Wednesday, 26 September 2012

The new iOS and iPhone 5 release have seen a very welcome overhaul of the app store install, open newly installed app and update process. Some of these changes take tips from the Android process, in that you can now see the process of your updates in the main screen and click to open directly from there, while they have been implemented in true Apple style - with a great deal of welcome thought to the UX.

The progress of the install and update process on one screen rather than home page is a refreshing update to iOS

So is this revolutionary? does it "change everything, again"?. well, no, not really, but it does a few things which make this seemingly simple change quite important to the development of app stores, as much as the recent overhaul of the Android Store and the Windows 7.5 store:

A little known fact, seldom tackled in the industry is the fact is that not everybody downloads apps! The early adopters and higher end users download apps between ordering dry skinny lattes, however there is a larger part of even the iPhone market who go months without downloading an app, after having downloaded 5 to 10 in one go - that is their daughter, son, boyfriend, PA, gardener or pastry chef has downloaded their apps for them, as they are not comfortable or feel they do not have the knowlegde to do so and we need to change this. Uniformity between platforms, which this moves towards, and transparency of what is going which is very well executed, as can be expected from Apple and is very present here, all on helps promote app adoption.

updating apps... a big problem with apps vs. HTML5 vs. native is that once its out there it needs the user to update, and if they are in the above camp they will not readily update apps either, which is not ideal for an apps ecosystem owner, moreover one with such a considerable catalogue as Apple: How to get people to update more often is critical, and making the process as painless as the new version is does help.

So this is the page that we now see great the novice: single click to "install app" from the beginning, gone is the two stage process which only said "install app" after being clicked: to the mass market, this is more inviting, to the early adopted and voracious app consumers, this is a welcome UX improvement. I do want to say at this point, that this is not a criticism or a slant at Apple being late to a party; its more a development, a natural transition of the store which was not first but was first to get us all using apps, and has now implemented a mass market feature better than its predecessors. Apple, I give you the "again" even if I do not give you the "changes everything" :)

Install App: Simples...

I have started in the middle with the top image, moved to the beginning above; and so it only makes sense to now go to the end: where after install you can conveniently open the app. This has been around for a while on Android and encourages first use (we have all downloaded a "must-have" app and then deleted it weeks later, just like the small (and growing) collection of "must-read" books on my bookshelf...

click to open from install location

Especially slick is the update process, which handles multiple upgrades very gracefully indeed.